Video: 'As South Africans we are used to facing adversity'

With the dark cloud of the Rassie Erasmus saga hanging over the team, South Africa provided the perfect riposte with their first win of the year-end camping on Saturday - a 63-21 thrashing of Italy.

However, captain Siyamthanda Kolisi talked down the result, insisting that winning once "is not enough, we have to keep doing it".

He made it clear the Springboks need to repeat that against England at Twickenham this coming Saturday.

It was a challenging week for the South African tourists - with flank Pieter-Steph du Toit and Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus both suspended, heaping further pressure on the team.

The Erasmus ban dominated Kolisi's pre-match captain's media briefing, but he insisted they managed to shift their focus onto the game and what is required.

"We showed Italy the respect that they deserve and, as I said on Friday, they're a very different team to a few years ago," said Kolisi.

"We knew we had to play to the best of our ability, and it was clear by how tight the first half was. We had to dig deep.

"These things happen," he said of the off-field drama in the build-up to the Test.

"[As South Africans] we are used to facing adversity.

"We come from a country that [adversity] is always there, at all times.

"We have to use those things to lift ourselves up.

"Our focus was on the game. Worse things could have happened in the week, but we would still have focussed on the game."

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He said it was vital to get a win, play properly and enjoy the occasion.

"That is what [coach] Jacques [Nienaber] and [DoR] Rassie [[Erasmus] told us: 'Get to the place that made you start playing rugby.'

"We want to score tries, run with the ball and off-load.

"As South Africans, we enjoy the physical part of the game.

"We want to bring that balance and bring it all together and I thought we did that well."

He reiterated the statement that they will have to repeat it at Twickenham this coming Saturday, adding that he believes the Boks are "heading in the right direction".

Coach Jacques Nienaber echoed Kolisi's thoughts.

"We certainly all want to see the team moving forward in this direction," the coach said.

"We capitalised on the opportunities we created [in this match], but I don't think it was a near perfect performance.

"We can always get better.

"That said, the work the guys have put in over the last month in terms of where we want to be heading into 2023 is great.

"The players are taking ownership and we are building.

"But as Siyamthanda said, one good game isn't good enough. We need to get consistency.

"The challenge of course is when things don't always go your way, to dig yourself out of it and try to get consistency."

The Springboks will get a chance to test their consistency when they run out at Twickenham next week.

Nienaber was uncertain about the extent of utility back Cheslin Kolbe's injury and said he would have an update after consulting the team doctor.

Kolbe pulled up after a sublime piece of individualistic play in the 45th minute - collecting a ball from a restart and sprinting clear to score a try.

Nienaber admitted that it could be a hamstring strain.

The Boks will travel to London on Sunday and will begin their on-field preparations for next week's tour finale against England on Monday.

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